A Brief History of Vedas

He is a native of Varagur Village in Tanjore District, Tamil Nadu, India. Born on 28th February 1966 as the 2nd Son of Late Sri. P Krishnamoorthy Iyer and Smt. K Meenakshi Ammal. He had his schooling in Sir. P S Sivaswamy Iyer Hr Secondary School. Tirukattupalli. Tanjore. He had his B.Com degree from Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Chennai with a 1st Class and secured the III Rank in his Post Gradution in Commerce (M.Com) from the University of Madras from A.M Jain College, Meenambakkam, Chennai. He is an All India Rank Holder in CA, CWA and CS from Indias' Premier Institutes like Chartered, Cost & Works, and Company Seceretaries of India. He also received Post Graduate Diploma in Foreign Trade Management (PGDFTM) from Indian Institute of Export Management, Calcutta. In addition to this, he also had Diploma in Hindu Astrology (DHA) from Kadalangudi Institute of Astrology, Chennai. He received Business Management Training in INSEAD, The European Institute of Business Administration, Fontainebleau, France and in US GAAP and SEC reporting at Hongkong by Price Waterhouse, Belgium.

Interest in the Vedas:

A) Rig Veda: Learning under Sri. B V Surya Narayana Bhat Ghanapatigal, Mylapore and Sri. Govind Prakash Bhat Ghanapatigal, Bangalore.

B) Krishna Yajur Veda: Learning under Shri. V G Subramanya Ghanapatigal, Mylapore, Chennai and Sri. Anandanarayana Somayaji, Musiri.

C) Sukla Yajur Veda: Learning under Shri. Parasurama Ghanapatigal, Ambattur, Chennai.

Other Achievements:

1. Published a research article titled "More Accurate Prediction Using Ashtavarga" in World Famous "The Astrological Magazine" by Dr B V Raman, Bangalore.

2. Published an article on "Export House Status" in "Chartered Accountant" Magazine.

3. Demonstrated a new method of reciting Ghana from more than one Veda shaka simultaneously to highlight the differences of Swara, Word (Padam) and place of occurrences in the same text, similar to Jugal Bandhi in Music.

4. Held Senior Management position in Indian and Foreign Companies.

5. Visited various countries in the world.

6. Wntten and published many books in Veda Ghana Paha from gig, Krishna Yajur and Sukla Yajur Veda, First of its kind in the world.

7. Recited and published many Audio CDs and DVD in Veda Ghana Patha.

8. Received Doctorate (PhD) in the Vedas, from Vedic Wellness University, Florida, USA in July 2019.

9. Selected as one of the "Top 100 CFOs in India" by CFO Institute in March 2015.

10. Conferred the '100 Most Influential CFO's of India' title by the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts, London in June 2016.

11. Received the "Asia CFO Excellence Award" in Construction & Real Estate Sector from CMO Asia in August 2016.

12. Honoured by Vice President of India Sri. Venkaiah Naidu during August 2018, for the Achievement and contribution done in professional and Vedic field.

It was my long-time desire to write about the origin and development of the Vedas, how they were branched out, by whom, in which period, etc. I had opportunities to know about them from learned Pundits and have also read relevant books and various articles related to this topic at various points of time. I have made my own research and observations on the topic and was eager to share my thoughts with the readers, who are curious to know about the Vedas. So, I took up writing this book from 2003 and kept on updating the facts about them. The end result is this book.

This book contains the details of 100 Veda Sakhas (branches); about 100 Sikshas prevalent during ancient times and enumerates about 175 Upanishats available today, which pertain to the four Vedas, further divided into Samanya, Sannydsa, Sakta, Vaishrjava, Saiva and Yoga. This book lists the names of the Rishis who have contributed Mantras from their families initially, and how they got arranged later with my few distinct observations. This book navigates the reader through the chronological development of the Veda, from Mantras to Brahmanam, Aratiyakas, Upanishats, Sutras and Parisishtas etc. This book answers questions about the difference between Charana and Sakha, which is further divided into Samhita Brahmatia Sakha and Sara Sakhas. The book also lists the Vam§as (lineage) as per Sama Veda and Sukla Yajur Veda, and through whom we acquired the respective Brahmanam of that Veda.

This book brings out some interesting facts about the creation of this world, and the Gayatri Mantra from Gopata Brahmanam of the Atharva Veda. This book explains in detail the six Prati§akhya texts belonging to the four Vedas available today and has named 52 authors as a reference.

This book also attempts to answer a few questions like (a) who classified the Veda prior to Veda Vyasa, (b) how Yajnavalkya was in no way related to Janaka (Sita’s father). A flow chart of various preceptors beginning from Vyasa is also provided and elaborates how the four Vedas branched out, which is quite an interesting read for inquisitive readers. It also narrates the biography of Yajnavalkya in detail.

The book provides some interesting facts about Vyasa not mentioned in Vedic literature despite the Puranas applauding him a lot. It also furnishes details on the methods to preserve the text of the Vedas intact by documenting the Anukramani and Vikriti Pallas. The systematic recitation of the Vedas through Ashta vikriti has been explained in detail. This also narrates how the Vedas were taught/ learned in the ancient times in the Guru Sishya Parampara, and the secret of getting the desired results from Vedic recitation. The book concludes with reasons for the origin of different sakhas and their extinction.

I would like to thank Dr. M C Prakash, Bangalore and Mr. Balaji, Chennai for spending their valuable time in verifying the linguistic and grammatical aspects of the text and re-arranging the flow of sentences and topics, so that this appeals to the readers and keep them engaged. Hope this book will be of some help in understanding the origin and history of the Vedas, how they evolved, branched off into different schools etc, and their present condition in India. This also emphasises on the learning and propagation of different branches of the Vedas, which are still extant in very few learned Vedic Pundits scattered over different places of India. I shall be grateful to the readers for their valuable and appropriate suggestions which can be incorporated in the next edition.

**Content and Sample Pages**